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The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford + 50/50 Friday


Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

These are the rules:
1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.
3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
4. Post it.
5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.


I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader.  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader.


This week I'm spotlighting one of my next reads, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  This novel isn't my usual pick, but a friend of mine let me borrow this one the other day - it's one of her favorites and she wanted me to give it a try.  I have to admit that the summary and these snippets sound quite enticing.

Beginning:

Old Henry Lee stood transfixed by all the commotion at the Panama Hotel.  What had started as a crowd of curious onlookers eyeballing a television news crew had now swollen into a polite mob of shoppers, tourists, and a few punk-looking street kids, all wondering what the heck was going on.

56:

"How long are you playing here?" Henry asked.

"Just through the weekend, then Oscar said we'd talk."

"Knock 'em dead," Henry said as he and Keiko headed through the swinging kitchen door.

Sheldon smiled and held up his sax.  "Thank you, sir, you have a fine day now."



This week I'm also taking part in a linkup called 50/50 Friday, which is hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they'll have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - this week the topic is Character You'd Want/ Not Want To Meet.

Want To Meet: Such a hard decision!  There are so many...


Isaac Vainio from Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines - He's a professional librarian from the UP of Michigan who can magically pull items from books into the real world.  How cool is that?!

Not Want To Meet:


Jack Torrance from The Shining by Stephen King - I would probably just turn and run in the other direction if I ever set eyes on him.


Have you ever read any of these books?  What characters would you want to meet or not meet?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog, and perhaps even commenting below.

Comments

  1. I've had the Bitter and Sweet book on my TBR list for quite a while now. Hope you enjoy it. Jack Torrance is not a character I'd want to meet in real life, either. Or maybe it's just Jack Nicholson I'd want to avoid! Happy reading this week.

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    1. I actually started in on it and I am really enjoying it, especially the 40s scenes.

      Could be both... ;)

      Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  2. I've never heard of the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Sounds good. Hope you enjoy. Behind her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough is my Friday Book.

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  3. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet looks like an interesting book. Enjoy it once you get to it. :-)

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  4. Okay...what the heck is going on? :-)
    sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

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    Replies
    1. Those two scenes are actually from two time periods - the 80s and the 40s. :)

      Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  5. That title grabbed me right away. Sounds like a good one to spend the weekend with.

    My Friday 56 from Silver Threads

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    1. So far it's going pretty quickly. Thanks for sharing, Laura.

      Delete
  6. This book is one I've been eyeing for a while (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet), and now that I'm reminded of it...thanks! Enjoy, and thanks for visiting my blog.

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    Replies
    1. Well, I hope you'll like it when you get to it. Thanks for visiting my blog as well. :)

      Delete
  7. I haven't heard of the book before. It sounds interesting. This week I am reading Edited Out by E. J. Copperman. Happy reading!

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    Replies
    1. I hadn't either before my friend let me borrow it - it's very good so far though.

      Delete
  8. Maybe it's because I live in the Seattle area, but I LOVED Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. (I recently drove by the Panama Hotel!) Seeing the excerpts you posted makes me want to read it again. I hope you enjoy the story.
    My Friday post features The Secret Wife.

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    Replies
    1. I had no idea that it was a real place - very interesting. :)

      Delete
  9. I've had The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet on my TBR list for ages!!!! Need to read it, really sounds like such a great read.

    I like that Friday 50/50 - good idea. Will look into it. Hope you will have a good weekend and here's my Friday Meets: http://marelithalkink.blogspot.co.za/2017/05/friday-meets-12-may-2017.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So far it's pretty good. :) I hope you will enjoy it. :)

      You should join in - it's a fun Friday addition.

      Delete
  10. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is on the list of a reading challenge I'm doing. I have a copy waiting on my shelf. I'll be curious to find out what you think of it.

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    1. And, I hope you will enjoy it for your challenge. :)

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  11. Sounds like a lovely read! Happy weekend!

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  12. I would love to know what was going on. Here is mine
    http://totallyaddictedtoreading.blogspot.com/2017/05/friday-memes-book-beginnings-and-friday.html

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  13. I went to the Panama Hotel in Seattle last Spring. It is one of the actual places in the novel that really exists. I hope you enjoy it. My Friday Quotes

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    1. I didn't realize it was a real place until I started looking at the comments - very interesting. :)

      Delete
  14. I haven't read or seen The Shining yet but I've heard of Jack Torrance and I would definitely not wan to meet him either! Villains in general; they're cool to read about and amazing when they're complexly developed but I'd never want to actually meet one. Thanks for linking up, Lauren!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both are excellent, but I have to admit that the movie isn't so good as an adaptation.

      Delete
  15. I hope this one is a good one! Oh gosh, yes, I wouldn't want to meet Jack Torrance either. That's a great movie though. Happy weekend!

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    Replies
    1. An awesome movie! I hope you had a great one, Alicia!

      Delete
  16. New to me, too! The cover really fits well with the sentences you shared.

    Oh I love The Shining lol But yep, he'd freak me out if I met him...

    Here's mine: http://bit.ly/2rah60P

    Hugs,

    Sassy :)

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    1. I'd definitely run the other way if I saw him, I think!

      Thanks for sharing. :)

      Delete
  17. Yes! I would fully run away from Jack Torrance!

    Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader

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